FedSoc Events

Some states have criticized Washington overreach on a number of energy and environmental issues, from fracking, the sale of public lands, utility regulation, and clean air and water regulation. Many state attorneys general have banded together to challenge alleged overreach in the environmental arena, including litigation against the EPA’s coal-fired power plant regulation plans. What are the prop...

Former California Governor Pete Wilson delivered the Keynote Address at the 2016 Annual Western Chapters Conference on January 30, 2016, at The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, CA. Thomas F. Gede of Morgan Lewis introduced the Governor.

Sometimes federalism is invoked because we believe the best way to preserve freedom is to devolve to the local level. With the federal government’s reach extending into more facets of daily life like education policy, labor & employment policies, and healthcare, calls for state and local governments to stand against Washington are increasing. Yet at times, local government can serve as an even gre...

James Madison wrote that our system of federalism provides “a double security…to the rights of the people.” In other words, the 50 states serve as shields for individual rights that the federal government fails to protect. States can harness these tools to protect important rights. The intro will set the stage for the day’s theme, building on the Founders’ concept of federalism, tying it to Reagan...

Mark Behrens, co-chair of the Washington, DC-based Public Policy Group of Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P., will discuss Nevada’s poor ranking in a recent U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform survey of the fairness of state legal climates. He will also discuss the comments on Nevada courts included in the American Tort Reform Foundation’s annual Judicial Hellholes report, along with a recent point o...

This panel will discuss whether we have Federal overreach in this environmental law area, such as current interpretations of the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, Clean Power Plan, etc., and what the appropriate roles for the Federal Government and Florida are in the context of environmental law. -- This panel was part of the 2016 Annual Florida Chapters Conference at Disney's Boardwalk Inn in Lake...

This panel was part of the 2016 Annual Florida Chapters Conference at Disney's Boardwalk Inn in Lake Buena Vista, FL on January 22-23, 2016. -- Featuring: Mr. Mark Wilson, President and CEO, Florida Chamber of Commerce. Interviewer: Mr. Jesse Panuccio, Former Executive Director, Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.

Tim Cerio, General Counsel to Governor Rick Scott of Florida, delivered this address at the 2016 Annual Florida Chapters Conference on Saturday, January 23, 2016, at Disney's Boardwalk Inn in Lake Buena Vista, FL. He was introduced by Judge Ed Scales of the Florida Third District Court of Appeal.

This panel will move beyond the Obamacare discussion and address what the current problems in health care and whether there are proven and scalable solutions to these problems. The panel will also discuss what the legal barriers to those solutions are and what the appropriate Federal/Florida role in Healthcare is. -- This panel was part of the 2016 Annual Florida Chapters Conference at Disney's Bo...

This panel will address the religious rights of persons and corporate entities in the context of the same sex marriage rulings, threats to not-for-profit status, cake baking, and other current areas of uncertainty. The panel will also discuss appropriate Federal/Florida roles and possible distinctions between protection under the law and civil disobedience in the context of religious liberty. -- T...

This panel was part of the 2016 Annual Florida Chapters Conference at Disney's Boardwalk Inn in Lake Buena Vista, FL on January 22-23, 2016. -- Featuring: Hon. Charles T. Canady, Florida Supreme Court and Hon. William H. Pryor, Jr., U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit. Moderator: Dean R. Alexander Acosta, Dean, Florida International University College of Law. Introduction: Mr. Morgan Streetman...

In recent years there has been a debate across the ideological spectrum about the reach and role of criminal law and punishment in the United States. This panel will explore the growth of criminal laws, the role of prosecutorial discretion, recent dialogue and actions around incarceration, and the appropriate federal/Florida roles in these arenas. -- This panel was part of the 2016 Annual Florida...

Since before the Revolution, American legal and political traditions have supported many forms of multiculturalism, through institutions such as freedom of association, religious liberty, parental rights, freedom of speech, private property, federalism, often open immigration policy, and the like. And those traditions have likewise imposed constraints on such multiculturalism. What can those tradi...

This panel will consider to what extent the disproportionate increase in income among the very wealthy is due not to market forces but to rent seeking and government policies that are the product of rent seeking. It will also discuss possible solutions. -- This panel took place during the 18th Annual Faculty Conference at the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel in New York, NY on January 8, 2016....

This panel was part of the 18th Annual Federalist Society Faculty Conference held on January 8, 2016 at the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel New York, NY. -- Featuring: Prof. Tara Leigh Grove, William & Mary Law School: “When Can a State Sue the United States?”; Prof. Jeremy Kidd, Mercer University Walter F. George School of Law: “Neither Savior Nor Bogeyman: What Lies Behind the Door of Third...

The FCC derives its legal authority almost entirely from statutes that predate the Internet--primarily from the 1934 Communications Act, which was designed for the regulation of a national telephone monopolist, and the 1996 Telecommunications Act, which was designed to incrementally deregulate the communications industry as the vestiges of that national monopoly gave way to competition. Over the p...

When Chevron was first decided it was generally welcomed on the right side of the political spectrum as a principled method constraining judicial discretion and permitting the executive to exert policy control over the administrative state. But as the administrative state continues to grow, some now see Chevron as removing an important check on government power and an abdication of the judiciary’s...

As ISIS, al Qaeda and its offshoots, and other groups spread terror across the globe, it is vital to establish a strong framework for the international law and policy of counterterrorism. This includes understandings and cooperation on surveillance, detention, counterterrorism finance, and the law of espionage. These subjects will be addressed by panelists with both real world and academic experie...

On November 14, 2015, during the Federalist Society's 2015 National Lawyers Convention in Washington, DC, Professor Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz of the Georgetown University Law Center interviewed USA Today Columnist, Daily Beast Columnist, and FOX News Contributor Ms. Kirsten Powers. -- Note: There were technical issues with Prof. Rosenkranz's microphone at the beginning of the video during his intr...

The Eighth Annual Rosenkranz Debate was held on November 14, 2015, during The Federalist Society's 2015 National Lawyers Convention. RESOLVED: The Constitution is designed for a moral and religious people and it's wholly unsuited for the government of any other. -- Featuring: Prof. Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, Princeton University and Prof. John O. McGinnis, George C. Di...

Many attorneys see a judgeship as the pinnacle of professional achievement in the legal world. It could be the visibility of judges, their unquestioned decision-making authority, the absence of clients, life tenure, or some other aspect of being a judge. Our panel of judges will discuss the realities of a career on the bench. The panelists will share their thoughts on topics as diverse as the role...

The Supreme Court has instructed in clear terms that the duty of the Federal prosecutor in a criminal prosecution "is not that it shall win a case, but that justice shall be done." Berger v. United States, 295 U.S. 78, 88 (1935). Yet the news pages are filled with examples of Federal prosecutorial overreach. In its term just ended, the Supreme Court reversed six of seven criminal convictions that...

The Constitution specifically vests power in Congress to grant authors and inventors exclusive rights in their writings and inventions. The first Congress passed laws setting forth the requirements and procedures for granting patents and copyrights. In these early days, copyrights were granted for registered works, and Thomas Jefferson himself examined patents as a member of President George Washi...

Environmental law and policy raise profound questions about Congress's role and responsibilities. Many environmental regulatory statutes leave the Environmental Protection Agency with broad discretion. Although these grants of discretion create flexibility and take advantage of EPA expertise, they also invite congressional passivity, create administrative problems, and increase special-interest pr...

Over the years, and especially recently, it appears as though members of Congress primarily need to avoid offending constituents if they wish to stay in office. There are few rewards for genuine political leadership or the hard-nosed political deals that are oftentimes crucial to good governance. “Passing the buck" to the Executive branch, usually in the form of the Administrative State or even to...